Wanted: 75 Tourer - Diesel

[Leander]

Hi Everyone :lol:,

I've never owned or driven a 75, but have long admired their serene beauty from way back from when the car first appeared (but I couldn't afford one back then). Having long since grown tired of the tedious grey interiors and emotionless lines of most modern cars, it's time to get what I always wanted. I've done some reading up on the 75 specifications, mainly on here actually, and have a good idea of what I'd like to end up with. So here goes with my preferences, none of which, except for 'estate' and 'diesel' and certain colour options, are written in stone.

75 Tourer Estate Diesel - CDT or CDTi - prefacelift if possible

Mileage - ideally less than 100K

Manual preferred
(however since reading posts on here would consider automatic also)

Club, Club SE, Connoisseur, Connoisseur SE
- but would consider Classic if it had leather seats (if that's possible)

Colour: Strongly prefer greens and blues & warming to the rich rover reds,
but only colours I wouldn't consider is Silver, Black, Grey or white - not really for me, but I know loved by many, plus I've had a white car for years and want some colour now!

Interior - Leather.

Cassette and CD would be nice, as well as a sunroof - though they do seem to be pretty rare.

Location - I'm in Lancashire, but will travel anywhere in mainland UK for the right car.

Condition - More important inside than outside - and would prefer it to be dog and smoke free.

Something in very good condition with no work need needed would obviously be very welcome - and I've got a maximum budget of around £4000, but I hope to get what I'm looking for less than that - especially if I buy private. Does that sound reasonable. I've mainly been looking on autotrader and ebay, but maybe one of my keen eyed fellow members will spot something, or even has my dream car for sale....

Thanks for reading, and for any for any help with this.


Best regards
Leander :lol:

[derekosb]

Hi Leander and to the club.

I love the search....

Found one possible for you:

2002 52 Plate CDT Tourer Club SE in Wedgewood Blue with 16" Unions. 82,000 Miles with RAC inspection for £3,770.00

http://users.autoexposure.co.uk/sear...=Any&Trans=Any

I always like to add some pictures to help as well:















I'm sure other members will give you their opinions and I will see what else I can find. What do you think to this one? (Gives me an idea if I am on the right lines?).

Good luck and enjoy the search, take your time and drive a few.

Derek

[Leander]

Hi Derek :lol:,

Thanks for joining in the hunt - and thanks for the find ! A lovely car, and looks very well taken car of, but Im not really into the dark grey velour - very practical I know, but just reminds me of lots of other interiors. I think I could handle grey in leather though. Probably my favourite leather would be the rare blue or green, along with the aubergine I mentioned. But I know that is probably not going to happen. Anyway, thanks for this first response. I will take your advice and be patient, even if takes till Christmas...
Cheers

Leander

[johnnyallan]

Hi and welcome to our club, have you tried http://uk.msn.com, go on their find used cars, select the car of your choice, leave the price vacant, now how far you are willing to travel, press find and the list will appear,most have pictures with milage etc, I'm sure you will find exactly what your looking for, GOOD LUCK.

[derekosb]

Originally Posted by Leander

Hi Derek :lol:,

Thanks for joining in the hunt - and thanks for the find ! A lovely car, and looks very well taken car of, but Im not really into the dark grey velour - very practical I know, but just reminds me of lots of other interiors. I think I could handle grey in leather though. Probably my favourite leather would be the rare blue or green, along with the aubergine I mentioned. But I know that is probably not going to happen. Anyway, thanks for this first response. I will take your advice and be patient, even if takes till Christmas (actually just seen mince pies for sale in Sainsbury - three months early!).

Cheers

Leander

Hi Leander.

I think (and others may correct me as I may be wrong) but I don't think the aubergine interior was ever available on the Tourer. In fact I don't think any of the personal line interiors were? If you don't want grey velour then you really need to look for a Connie however I would also suggest you don't write off a good Club (like the one above which I thought did look pretty good). Retrofitting leather seats is quite a popular mod and a decent set of leather seats is normally relatively easy to source. Just a thought. Derek

[Leander]

Originally Posted by johnnyallan

Hi and welcome to our club, have you tried http://uk.msn.com, go on their find used cars, select the car of your choice, leave the price vacant, now how far you are willing to travel, press find and the list will appear,most have pictures with milage etc, I'm sure you will find exactly what your looking for, GOOD LUCK.

Hi:lol:
- and thanks for the tip johnnyallan - by coincidence MSN are doing a feature on luxury cars to buy cheaply now, and there was the 75, alongside the Jags etc - here is what it had to say:

"The company may be scrap, but the best car they made for a generation is still around in reassuringly large numbers. A sort of olde worlde BMW 3 Series and Ford Mondeo rival, it was actually better than some small Jags and it looked a lot like a baby Bentley. So with a 2.5 V6 engine under the bonnet here is a slice of history which can smoke around in a subtle though never sporty way. The way of the true red white and blue smoker."

I looked through the listings, and it certainly has more than autotrader or ebay - but didn't find the right one for me just yet. I'll check again in a few days.

Cheers

Leander

[Leander]

Originally Posted by derekosb

Hi Leander.

I think (and others may correct me as I may be wrong) but I don't think the aubergine interior was ever available on the Tourer. In fact I don't think any of the personal line interiors were? If you don't want grey velour then you really need to look for a Connie however I would also suggest you don't write off a good Club (like the one above which I thought did look pretty good). Retrofitting leather seats is quite a popular mod and a decent set of leather seats is normally relatively easy to source. Just a thought. Derek

Hi again Derek,

Point noted about the availability, or lack thereof, of leather on the Club. I thought that it might have been an option on the Club Tourer, but I stand corrected. The Club you found did look in great order, but apart from the velour I also prefer the wedgewood blue colour that came out of Cowley - which I believe means it isn't available on the tourers that were only produced at Longbridge. Since it's still early days I think I'll give it a few weeks to see if my favourite combination turns up (Conny/Cdti/British Racing Green or Moonstone/Leather). As for replacing velour with leather, it hadn't occurred to me. Two questions on that if I may - one, is it straightforward? And two, any idea how much as set of leather seats go for? And thanks for help and interest so far.

Cheer
Leander

[Reebs]

Piston Heads have a 2003 Blue (Royal or Midnight) Connoisseur SE Tourer for £4684 @ 82K

http://www.pistonheads.com/SALES/1177031.htm

Manual Gearbox = Yes
Leather Interior (Ash Grey & Light Smokestone) = Yes
CD Autochanger = Yes
Cruise Control = Yes
Parking Sensors = Yes
Rain Sensing Wipers = Yes
Alloy Wheels = Yes
Mud Flaps = Yes

Personal Line Aubergine / Deep Sea Green / Neptune Blue = No
Sunroof = Doesn't look like it
Sat Nav = No

Any good

[derekosb]

Originally Posted by Leander

Hi again Derek,

Point noted about the availability, or lack thereof, of leather on the Club. I thought that it might have been an option on the Club Tourer, but I stand corrected. The Club you found did look in great order, but apart from the velour I also prefer the wedgewood blue colour that came out of Cowley - which I believe means it isn't available on the tourers that were only produced at Longbridge. Since it's still early days I think I'll give it a few weeks to see if my favourite combination turns up (Conny/Cdti/British Racing Green or Moonstone/Leather). As for replacing velour with leather, it hadn't occurred to me. Two questions on that if I may - one, is it straightforward? And two, any idea how much as set of leather seats go for? And thanks for help and interest so far.

Cheer
Leander

Hi Leander,

Sorry, I think you have picked me up slightly wrong. A leather interior would have been an option on a Club Tourer, just not the special "Personal Line" coloured leather (Aubergine/Sea Green/Neptune Blue) as AFAIK they were only ever available on the Cowley saloons.

Changing the seats appears to be quite straightforward, apart from the electric/heated ones where the wiring can be complicated. As I have never done it I cannot fully comment though but many other members have so hopefully someone will advise. There may even be a "How To" on the subject. There are 12 sets on ebay right now, although 11 of them are for saloons and the only Tourer set are a really tatty set from a ZT-T. Saloon prices range from £100 to £350 (incl doorcards). Tourer sets are definitely rarer though.

Keep looking, patience will be rewarded.

Derek

[Jezzer 1]

I may be able to help!

How about a 2005 ( Facelift model) Connoissseur SE with SE pack? Royal Blue, sandstone leather, satnav, sunroof, heated seats, etc. It was my company car, I did 65K miles on it, always serviced on time etc. Then sold it to a lady friend. It's now done just over 100K - but she's a very gentle driver.

If it's of interest let me know and I'll take some photos and check exact mileage.

The only thing I know is wrong with it is that the two chrome surrounds on the font door handles have come off!